Hyundai to Invest in Gurgaon-based Self-Drive Car Rental Startup Revv

South Korean automobile manufacturer Hyundai today announced that it has made an strategic investment and partnership with Gurgaon-based Revv, a self-drive car sharing company to develop an innovative car sharing service and conduct creative marketing activities in India. The financial details of the deal and the percentage of stakes picked by Hyundai were not disclosed however.

With this strategic investment from Hyundai, it will enable both Hyundai Motor and Revv to build competency and the technology necessary for leading the future mobility market in India, said the the company in a statement.

Founded in July 2015, by Anupam Agarwal and Karan Jain, Revv is an early stage venture that counts few angel investors indluding Ananth Narayanan, CEO of Myntra, and Mahindra Finance as its investors. Owned and operated by parent company PrimeMover Mobility Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Revv started with a fleet of 50 cars from Delhi-NCR to offer self-drive cars on rent with 100% doorstep delivery.

Hyundai Motor, which is the only automotive company among Revv’s investors, will explore ways to support Revv’s car sharing service, including the supply of car sharing products, the development of new mobility service platforms, and product marketing. This will allow Indian consumers to experience Hyundai Motor’s vehicles in diverse ways.

The self-drive segment in the country has been showing exponential growth, expanding from USD 900 million in 2016 to USD 1.5 billion in 2018, and projected to expand to USD 2 billion by 2020.

India’s 15,000 car sharing vehicles are expected to grow to 50,000 by 2020, and 150,000 by 2022, as per the company estimates.

“The mobility industry is going through a dramatic shift globally, with the bulk of the innovation still to come. We want to be at the forefront of creating innovative solutions that can meaningfully shape this shift, and Hyundai Motor will play a crucial part in this mission,” said Anupam Agarwal, Co-Founder at Revv. “Hyundai Motor is a household name in India and we are delighted to have them join us on our journey. With their deep understanding of Indian consumers and their progressive stance on tech-driven mobility solutions, this partnership will bring us closer to achieving our vision in the mobility market,” said Karan Jain, Co-Founder of Revv.

Notably, Mahindra, which is a parent company of Mahindra Finance, which in turn is the investor in Revv, had too tied up with India’s largest cab company Carzonrent — in 2013 — to offer self drive options with the car in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. It was then available for Rs 100 per hour or Rs 800 for the entire day. The experiment fizzled out as it failed to enthuse consumers.

About Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL), the Indian subsidiary of South Korean giant forms a critical part of Hyundai Motor’s global export hub. HMIL currently exports to around 88 countries across Africa, Middle East, Latin America, Australia and Asia Pacific. It is the number one car exporter since inception in India. And, Its fully integrated state-of-the-art manufacturing plant near Chennai boasts advanced production, quality and testing capabilities, marking the 20th anniversary of production and sales in India.

In February, Mahindra picked up a 16% stake in Bengaluru-based self-drive car rental startup Zoomcar for $27.6 million as part of a Series C round of funding worth $40 million (Rs 256 crore).

In the same month, Mahindra had also made an investment of about $1 million in Mumbai-based connected car IoT-device making startup Carsense (formerly Carnot) for 22.9% stake in Carnot Technologies Pvt Ltd, the parent company of brand name Carsense.

Later in April this year, Mahindra’s electric vehicle (EV) subsidiary Mahindra Electric tied up with Zoomcar, to deploy a fleet of 100 units of its small electric car Mahindra e2o in Delhi to be available to consumers on rent in partnership with.

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An engineer by education and writer by profession, Suman keeps tab on startup ecosystem of India and leads the research team of IndiaWeb2 for covering funding deals, merger & acquisition and market reports.